Building automation systems are comprehensive and distributed control and data collection systems for a variety of building automation functions. Such functions may include comfort systems (also known as heating, ventilation and air condition or HVAC systems), security systems, fire safety systems, as well as others. Building automation systems include various end points from which data is collected. Examples of such end points include temperature sensors, smoke sensors, and light sensors. Building automation systems further include elements that may be controlled, for example, heating coil valves, ventilation dampers, and sprinkler systems. Between the data collection end points and controlled elements are various control logic elements or processors that use the collected data to control the various elements to carry out the ends of providing a comfortable, safe and efficient building.
Building automation systems often employ one or more data networks to facilitate data communication between the various elements. These networks may include local area networks, wide area networks, and the like. Such networks allow for single point user access to many variables in the system, including collected end point data as well as command values for controlling elements. To this end, a supervisory computer having a graphical user interface is connected to one of the networks. The supervisory computer can then obtain selected data from elements on the system and provide commands to selected elements of the system. The graphical display allows for an intuitive representation of the elements of the system, thereby facilitating comprehension of system data. One commercially available building automation system that incorporates the above described elements is the Apogee system available from Siemens Building Technologies, Inc. of Buffalo Grove, Ill.
Increasingly, building automation systems have acquired more useful features to assist in the smooth operation of building systems. For example, in addition to controlling physical devices based on sensor readings to achieve a particular result, building automation systems increasingly are capable of providing trending data from sensors, alarm indications when thresholds are crossed, and other elements that directly or indirectly contribute to improved building system services.
However, most building systems have limited ability to associate sensor values with other building system or general building attributes. Advanced systems allow graphic representations of portions of the building to be generated, and for multiple sensor and/or actuator points to be associated with that graphic representation. By way of example, the Insight™ Workstation, also available from Siemens Building Technologies, Inc. is capable of complex graphical representations of rooms or large devices of the building system. While systems with such graphics provide at least some integrated visible representation of portions of the building automation system, the ability to use such data is limited.
A further issue related to prior building automation systems is that information required to maintain the system was often widely physically dispersed throughout a facility and was in a variety of formats. For example, blue prints and CAD drawings may be stored partly as paper copies in various locations, CAD files on one or more computer systems. Also, owner's manuals and service contact information may be stored in different computer systems or in various physical file rooms. Details about a device's maintenance history may be stored yet elsewhere. Such uncoordinated storage of information useful to building system maintenance personnel significantly affects the maintenance efficiency.
Accordingly, there is a need for a more comprehensive manner in representing various types of data related to a building system. Such manner of representation could facilitate the development of significant new automated services. Such manner of representation could preferably facilitate remote building control.